DJ: Rangers need speed up front and muscle in midfield to close the six-point gap

It is a predicament the Ibrox club has not been in since dropping down the leagues two years ago.

The meeting with Livingston in West Lothian tomorrow, then, is massive for them. The players and the manager are under close scrutiny.

Ally McCoist in particular has come in for serious stick this week. But it goes with the territory in his position.

I know he was bitterly disappointed with the display in the 3-1 defeat to Hibs in the league at Ibrox on Monday.

But I am in no doubt whatsoever there will be changes this weekend.

The display against Hibs was nowhere near good enough. There are players on the sidelines desperate to be involved who will be brought in.

I think Marius Zaliukas will get a start at centre-half. Darren McGregor could also move from right-back inside to his favoured position.

Richard Foster is fit again and could be given the nod, or Sebastien Faure could be reintroduced to the fray.

The team desperately needs pace and guile up front and hopefully Nicky Clark and Kenny Miller will be available again.

Kris Boyd's head is going further down with each game he fails to score in, so perhaps it is time to give Jon Daly a start.

I think three or four players - possibly more - will be brought in against Livingston.

Players can't expect to perform as they did against Hibs and keep their place. I also think we might see a change in formation.

In the games that Rangers have lost against Hearts and Hibs this term they have been overrun in midfield.

Both opponents had players who can go box-to-box. Rangers don't have that pace in the centre of the park and can struggle as a result.

They need an extra man in that area. If Ally plays a 4-4-1-1 formation and asks the man who plays just off the striker to drop deep it could solve the problem.

Ally has been getting dog's abuse online, in the papers, on radio and television all week. But I am sure he will sort it out.

And I'm not just saying this, as some have said, because he is my mate.

Yes, he is a good friend of mine. But if I didn't think he was the right man to take Rangers forward I would say so.

People have made a great deal of how much money the manager has had to spend on a team since going into the Third Division.

But he has done well to take the club up two divisions in the circumstances he has had to work in and I have total faith in him.

Ultimately the players have to sort it out.

This is the first time they have been under pressure. They have drawn with Alloa away and lost to Hibs at home. The players must show their resolve by bouncing back.

If they can't deal with the predicament then they can always move on in January.

FOR 25 minutes of the game against Hibs Rangers probably had more of the ball but couldn't do anything with it.

The best chance they had was when Stevie Smith forced a save from the Hibs keeper at a free-kick, but the goalie cleared the ball up field and Jason Cummings beat Arnold Peralta to go clean through on goal.

How Peralta found himself at the back man-for-man with the striker I do not know.

And I can't understand why he tried to bring the ball down with his foot instead of just heading it.

In the 15 or 20 minutes after that opener Rangers contributed absolutely nothing.

Hibs were fired up and went 3-0 ahead. I don't think anybody could believe what they were seeing.

But the visitors had a lot of pace and took their goals well. You just have to look at the number of players Hibs had forward when they had possession to know they wanted to win the game badly. They lost four of their previous six league games.

So you have to ask: "Is it only Rangers they want to play against?"

They were superb in their Petrofac Training Cup game at Ibrox in the opening game of the 2014/15 campaign in August too.

Rangers only won after Hibs were cut to 10 men.

Alan Stubbs must be scratching his head and asking: "Why can't you perform like that every week?"

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